The present invention relates to a memory management method for use in a portable computer or terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a memory management method for prolonging the lifetime of an internal battery in the portable computer or terminal having a non-volatile memory.
As computer information processing capability increases, the number and size of programs increase. As a result, the memory contained in a computer becomes larger and larger. Typically, a computer or portable terminal includes two types of memory--volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory is a storage device for maintaining stored information even when power is not applied thereto. An EEPROM or flash memory is an example of a non-volatile memory. Volatile memory, on the other hand, does not retain the stored information when power is removed.
FIG. 1 illustrates a flowchart diagram of a data recording method of a general recording system using a non-volatile memory as a storage device. In step 110, a determination is made as to whether a data recording command for recording data is received. If the data recording command is received, data previously stored in a corresponding region in memory is deleted (step 120). Then, new data is recorded in the corresponding region in the memory (step 130). That is, when new data is recorded, the previous data recorded in the corresponding region in the memory is deleted according to a predetermined sequence, to allow for the recording of the new data. Thus, a controller such as a CPU continuously monitors the state of the memory for recording and deleting data. Such a continuous memory monitor of the controller causes unnecessary power consumption, and additional power consumption occurs due to the deleting and recording of data. Moreover, in a portable terminal which uses a limited capacity of power source (i.e., a battery such as a galvanic cell) power operation time is shortened due to power consumption resulting from frequent data deleting and recording operations.
Thus, a computer or portable terminal using a non-volatile memory requires a new memory management method capable of prolonging the lifetime of an internal cell.